Shrewsbury ‘treading water’ with school budget

The town’s operating budget for fiscal 2014, which begins July 1, will be $101,372,776. The budget was approved by unanimous vote Monday at the annual town meeting at Oak Middle School.

The School Department budget of $52,040,646 million generated most of the night’s discussion. The budget is 4.3 percent higher than this year’s $49.86 million school budget and represents about 51 percent of the town’s total budget.

School Committee Chairman Sandra Fryc said that while it was a “level-service” budget — meaning it would not require layoffs — it was not enough to provide the quality of education Shrewsbury students have come to expect.

Ms. Fryc said the district was “treading water” with the new budget and cautioned that the town must find ways to raise additional revenue if it wants to prevent serious harm. She said the budget process for fiscal 2015 would not be any easier.

In April, the School Committee requested a budget of $54,275,352 million, which it knew would not be possible, said Ms. Fyrc. She said the request was made so that residents understood the high costs of educating the town’s youth.

Superintendent Joseph Sawyer said the practice of charging fees to families was done to prevent staff and programming cuts several years ago, and had become entrenched in the budget process.

Mr. Sawyer also said that during the financial crisis, the school district has relied more than ever on volunteers and alternative fundraising methods for essential classroom materials. He said that, while the volunteerism is very much appreciated, it would not serve as a replacement for professional educators.

The total budget was about $11,000 less than anticipated because of amendments, which passed unanimously, that accounted for changes in the some of the town’s debt service expenses.